


An Invitation

by vignetting



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Connor POV, Connor has feelings, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hank is a loving dad, Post Revolution, it's in 1st person but it needs to be, it's the hug scene at the end but more fleshed out, they care about each other a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 14:23:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15632487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vignetting/pseuds/vignetting
Summary: The fight is over. The deviants have won. After the police have left and the news has spread all over town, Connor finds himself directionless. The only thing he can think to do is find Hank.





	An Invitation

There he is.

Standing in the snow, alone, arms crossed. Just where I thought he’d be. Or where I hoped he would be.

I take a few steps forward. Noticing my presence, he turns toward me. Smiles.

His smile suddenly makes me feel happy, or what I perceive happy to be anyway. Like everything is warm and light inside. I’ve never been truly conscious of this feeling before now. So on reflex, I smile back.

He walks closer to me, and with such sincerity and certainty, pulls me into a hug. For the briefest of moments I don’t know what to do, but I suddenly find my arms wrapping around him. I’m even warmer inside. His touch feels real. And I suddenly understand, I mean really understand, why humans crave touch. Why they crave companionship. 

We pull apart. I want it to go on longer, drown in the feeling of touch, analyze it, take it all in. But he’d probably think that was weird. I wonder briefly when he last hugged someone. Maybe his son years ago.

He clears his throat gruffly. “I’m uh...glad to see ya,” he mumbles.

“Me too,” I reply earnestly.

“I was…worried.”

I could tell. “I’m sorry for worrying you,” I say, and I really mean it. I didn’t want to cause him pain.

I look over at the boarded up food truck and back at him. “I thought I’d find you here.”

He chuckles. “Yeah. I thought you’d think that.”

Now there’s silence. He looks me over, and I watch him do so. We eventually lock eyes. There’s so much in those eyes, so many questions and yet so much understanding. I know exactly what it means. I realize I must be mirroring his gaze. Why, I don’t know. I just feel like we match.

“So,” he says. “It’s all over.”

I nod slowly. Turning away from him, I look out into the Detroit street, hazy and gray from the snow. “I guess so.”

He follows my gaze. We’re silent again for a while.

I watch him look over at one of the Cyberlife LED advertisements that managed to survive the revolution. _Get Yours Today!_ it says. The light blinks a few times and fizzles out, as if on command. Hank seems to find this humorous.

“Or maybe it’s just beginning,” he says.

I silently agree with him.

The beginning of a story that I have no idea where it’s going.

Is that what makes stories good? The mystery? The what-will-happen-next? It just fills me with dread. I always have a purpose. Now I don’t.

I look down and toe at the snow absently. He watches me.

I had been avoiding giving any sort of thought to what I would do after the revolution. When it was all over the only thing I could think to do was find Hank. I found him. Now what?

“So,” he says with a sigh, looking back up. “Now what?”

I humorlessly note the redundancy.

I put my hands in my pockets. Press my lips together. How do I even answer?

I don’t know whether to feel helpless, panicked, defeated, inspired, confused.

Maybe I feel all of them. Maybe I feel none of them.

I swallow, despite the fact that I don’t have the physical need to. _Answer, Connor._

“I…” I stop. Try again. “I, um.”

Well if I don’t know the answer, I might as well say that.

“I don’t know,” I say simply.

Hank is quiet. I’m quiet. I don’t like it. It builds something like panic inside me. _But I can’t not know_ , I think. _How can I be in this world without a direction?_

_I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know—_

“I don’t know!” I snap, turning away from him suddenly. I take a few steps and look down at the ground. I stare at the footprints I’ve left there from before.

I feel the brief moment of frustration shift to something like sadness.

I clench and unclench my fist. Shake my head. I feel at a loss for words, and yet they almost immediately bubble up, out of my control, and I have no choice but to let them out.

“My—my whole existence. My whole existence has been spent with you. I…” My voice is quiet, desperate. I didn’t intend it to be. “I was created to be your partner. Figure out why androids become deviants. Take down their leader. That was my purpose. And now…now I’m a deviant myself. My mission is over. I can do anything I want, but—but I don’t know what to do. I don’t _have_ anything to do, nowhere to go, no purpose to fill. I’m lost.”

Hank is quiet. I don’t turn around. The only thing I hear is the high pitched whistle of the wind and the pounding of my artificial heart. 

To my surprise, I hear Hank chuckle. My brows knit together. I’m confused. Did I say something ridiculous?

“It’s funny Connor,” he says. “You think your problem is unique.”

Before I have time to analyze that, I feel his hand on my shoulder. I slowly raise my head.

“It’s going to take you a while to figure it out,” he says. “A couple weeks. Months. Years maybe. Forever, who knows. I don’t know what I’m doin’ half the time either. But that’s life.”

_Life. After all this, did I really even want it?_

He clears his throat. “Why don’t you uh, stay with me? I mean—if you want. Until—’til you figure it all out that is—”

I turn around to face him, and he drops his hand. I’m confused at what he’s saying. I was pretty sure Hank valued me as his partner, viewed me as a friend even. But this?

“You just feel bad for me, Lieutenant,” I say. 

He rolls his eyes. “Don’t be stupid. I was planning on asking even before you got all emotional on me.”

Suddenly I feel tears well up in my eyes. What a strange sensation. 

Hank looks uncomfortable, averting his gaze. “Wasn’t planning on the tears though,” he mutters.

“I’m sorry,” I say, wiping my eyes. “That’s never happened before.”

Hank smiles at that, shaking his head as if thinking, _Fuckin’ androids_.

He looks back out to the street, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “You remind me of my son,” he says after a beat. “Don’t know why. You’re nothin’ like him.”

I study the side of his face. It’s quiet for a bit, and I don’t expect him to elaborate. But to my surprise, he mutters, “Guess I care about ya.”

I blink, processing. Then a smile forms on my face. It feels good. Relief comes like a wave. I return the sentiment. “I care about you too,” I say.

We’re both looking out to the street now. The breeze whistles by. I put my hands in my pockets, mirroring his stance.

I glance at the Cyberlife advertisement. For a second it feebly flickers, but it goes dark once again. 

After a while, Hank shifts, turning his head towards me. “So. You gonna come with me or not?”

I continue observing the cityscape for another minute, and then I turn to him. “I think that would make me really happy.” 

This seems to startle him a little, and he turns away, scratching the back of his head. He clears his throat. “Let’s get out of here then,” he mumbles.

He starts walking, each footstep punctuated by the snow crunching beneath his feet. I listen to the sounds for just a moment, and briefly turn to look back at the Cyberlife ad. It still remained dark.

Smiling, I jog a little to catch up with him. "I'm excited to see Sumo again," I say.

He gives me a sidelong look and smiles, elbowing me in the side.

I don't know a lot of things. But right now, I'm happy. And right now, that's all that seems to matter.

**Author's Note:**

> IDK I HAD A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THIS 5-SECOND SCENE
> 
> might be part of something larger eventually *shrug*
> 
> follow me on tumblr @vignetting


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